Tara and Jayson showed up for work early in the morning on the 4th. As they entered, they were greeted by several people from the Serenity Police Department. Though she'd had offices not much different than these on Starbase 901, this was more of how she remembered Athens being.
"Welcome, Ma'am, Sir," a young man greeted them. "My name's Sam Kirsch. I'm one of the officers here. "Let me show you around."
"Thank you," Tara replied, with a smile.
Sam started his tour and by the end Tara and Jayson pretty much had a feel for the place.
"Your office is over there, sir," the young man said, leading him over to an office where his name was already on the door.
"I'll see you later, Tara," Jayson said. "I better see what they have in here for me."
She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Until later then."
"Your office is right over here, ma'am," he said leading her across the room filled with several desks. On the other side was a larger office. It even had a view of the street outside. Her name was also already there.
As she entered the room, she looked around. It reminded her a great deal of her office in Athens, though the décor was different. But the feel was very much the same. She walked around the room for a moment before finally settling herself in the chair behind the desk.
"So, can't I get you anything, ma'am?" Sam asked.
"Hot blackberry tea, sweet," she replied.
"You've got it," Kirsch replied.
He was turning to go as she stopped him. "Are my codes entered into the computer already?"
"I believe they were added last week," he replied. "I'll be right back with that tea."
"Thank you," she said.
As he left, she finally accessed the computer and began pulling up all recent cases, along with those that were still open . . . Even looking at the array of crimes it was definitely more like being back in Athens; not that Starbase 901 hadn't had its fair share of law breakers, but murders were not all that common. Drugs and smuggling were the most prevalent crimes along with theft. Though occasionally there were sex offenders, but they were few and far between. Here, every crime was represented in one form or another and the murder rate was higher than she would have expected.
After reviewing as many cases as she could handle, which were most, since her CVI allowed her to retain information at incredible speeds, and several cups of tea, she switched to actually looking at the criminal database. She wanted to know who was there on Serenity that she might have to deal with . . . Because one thing was obvious. Serenity had a very dark side when it showed.
Hours passed as she lost herself in the new information. Suddenly, the sensor to her office chirped. As the door opened she saw Jayson standing there with two large paper bags.
"I knew you wouldn't eat today unless I brought you something myself," he smiled as he walked to the desk and sat in the chair opposite her. From one bag he pulled out two large drink containers. From the other, he pulled two sets of chop sticks and several white boxes.
Tara smiled enjoying the smell. "What did you bring me?" she teased.
"Well, my lady, we have Mongolia beef. We have shrimp with lobster sauce. We have sweet and sour almond duck and some spare ribs and egg rolls for good measure. I know how hungry you get with Chiron there."
She smiled and looked at the Skryll on her arm. He hissed softly as his name was said. "Yes, he and I are rather inseparable . . . Just the way I like him . . ."
Jayson smiled. He, himself, couldn't imagine having a Skryll, but as he had gotten to see it in action with Tara, he had been impressed. Not just with the creature's power, but with the bond he obviously shared with her. It went beyond a simple neuro-connection.
"Well, eat up then . . . You can't starve him to death!" he smirked handing her a white box and chop sticks.
She opened in and saw it was the sweet and sour almost duck. "Thank you," she replied. "It was quite sweet of you to do this for me . . ."
He reached over and took her hand. More was said between their eyes than could ever be spoken. He squeezed gently before letting her go.
"Maybe next time you can get lunch," he smirked as he reached for a white box himself.
"You've got a deal," she replied.
"So what have you been doing in here for all this time?" he asked. "I know you were reviewing things . . ."
"Recent cases . . . Open cases . . . Unsolved cases . . . and reviewing the criminal database," she replied matter-of-factly.
Jayson arched a brow. "All of that in just hours?" he replied.
"I'm not done just yet," she replied as she took another bite of duck. "But I should be by the end of the shift."
"Well, at least I can say that CVI does you justice."
Tara smirked. "Yes, it always has . . ."
For a moment, her mind went back to Earth . . . to her Earth . . back to her job as Companion Protector . . . Ta'al, Na'ar . . . The Taelons she had cared about the most. Which also brought memories of her friends and Ron . . Were they dead? Were they alive? Had the Taelons destroyed each other and them in the process? Had the Liberation managed to remove the Taelons from Earth?
"I stirred up something, didn't I?" Jayson asked, knowing that look in her green eyes.
Tara smiled and shook her head. "It's all right," she replied. "Nothing I haven't thought about before."
"Maybe not, but it's certainly something that creeps into your mind often enough," he replied with concern.
"Honestly, Jayson, I'm alright . . . Just every now and again I wonder what happened to those I left behind . . ." she said softly putting the white container down, reaching for another. But she was now forcing herself to eat. Her appetite was quickly waning as the unwanted thoughts of her past came back to her.
"Like Ron?" Jayson asked.
"Like everyone," she clarified. "Grace . . . her baby . . . Jen, James . . Na'ar . . . Don't get me wrong, I know this is where I belong now . . " She reached across the table and took Jayson's hand. "I belong with you . . and so does Zoe. But I can't pretend my life before here didn't happen either and they all depended upon me when I was there . . . I don't know if they're alive or dead . . . I don't know if Zo'or has managed to destroy everyone or if Na'ar and Da'an managed to take over the Commonality and bring unity to everyone."
"You did leave good friends behind . . ."
"Yes . . . and I do wonder what became of Ron . . . Not because I want to go back to him, but because he was the first man that not only did I love, but I could understand . . . and he understood me."
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have had you explain," he replied, sensing the distress in her voice, though outwardly she was calm. "But sometimes it's hard to think that there was another me that you were in love with . . "
She smiled, put the container down, got up and went to him, sitting down on his lap. She then kissed him. "You are very different from him . . . Looks are only skin deep, you know . . ."
He put his own container down and caressed her face tenderly. Smiling he kissed her once again.
Suddenly, they were pulled out of their tender moment by several claps and cat calls just beyond the office window. There were a handful of officers at their desks, watching the new Chief and Lieutenant, delighted by the show.
Tara smiled though her cheeks turned a slight shade of rose as Jayson laughed. "I guess privacy will be another matter here."
"Well, there's always time when we get home . . ."
"And Zoe goes to sleep," he replied.
"Yes . . . Then we'll have time just for us." With that, she gave him one more quick peck and stood up, going back to her chair. She tossed him another furtive glance before picking up her container with the chopsticks and began eating once again.
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